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NUMBER AND PER CENT OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM TO PERSONS OF EACH SEX 18 YEARS OF AGE OR OVER, BY DEGREE OF INJURY, FOR THE PERIOD 1895 TO 1906.

[Compiled from the Annual Reports of the Chief Inspector of Factories and Workshops of the United Kingdom, 1895 to 1906.]

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The results of this analysis are most valuable and instructive. It is a matter of regret that similar data are not available for the manufacturing States of this country. American factory inspectors' reports, as a rule, are unfortunately very defective and inconclusive. Even in the few States requiring the publication of accident statistics the lack of completeness and the absence of uniformity in method of accident reports precludes the possibility of an accurate interstate comparison. In Massachusetts during the ten years ending with 1905 there were reported 17,478 persons injured in industrial accidents, of whom 429, or 2.5 per cent, were injured fatally. It is estimated that about one-third of the accidents in that State have no connection with the occupation. In Rhode Island during the period from 1895 to 1904 there were reported among males 792 accidents in industries, of which 44, or 5.5 per cent, were fatal. Among females in the same State 200 accidents in industries were reported, of which none were fatal. The rule in Rhode Island is that all fatal accidents and all other accidents which prevent the injured person from returning to work within two weeks after the injury must be reported. Of course, under this rule, a large number of minor accidents are not reported, although such injuries may have a very important economic, social, and medical significance. In Michigan, during the period from 1901 to 1905, 2,219 accidents in industries were officially reported by factory inspectors, of which 12.1 per cent were fatal, 13.0 per cent serious, 47.9 per cent severe, and 27.0 per cent slight.

Many accidents, of course, occur which diminish the chances of subsequent longevity, even though they are not fatal, or even very serious at the time of their occurrence. Extensive investigations have

been made in Germany, where an enormous mass of statistical material is under continuous observation and a matter of accurate record, but the differences in industrial conditions do not warrant the use of German data for valid conclusions regarding corresponding occupations in the United States. It, however, may safely be affirmed that preventable accidents in industrial occupations cause a most serious impairment of industrial efficiency and a resulting diminution of health and longevity, which for private or government insurance purposes requires to be most carefully taken into account. This subject, aside from its importance as a national problem, is of considerable interest to accident and liability insurance companies, whose business has been growing with great rapidity during the last decade, and to life insurance companies, as a factor affecting materially the mortality experience during the early years of policy duration.

FATAL ACCIDENT FREQUENCY IN THE UNITED STATES.

It is necessary, however, at the outset of any extensive inquiry into this subject to take into consideration certain elementary facts of human mortality and accident frequency. As previously stated the normal rate of accident frequency from all causes among occupied males aged 15 years or over in the United States is approximately 1.13 per 1,000. Out of every 100 deaths from all causes among males 15 years of age or over, 9.1 per cent were deaths from accidents, but the proportionate mortality differs materially according to age and occupation. Thus, at ages 15 to 24 the proportion of accidental deaths is 18.2 per cent, at ages 25 to 34 it is 15.3 per cent, decreasing to 13.0 per cent at ages 35 to 44, and to 5.9 per cent at ages 55 to 64, and only 3.3 per cent at ages 65 or over. How many of these accidents were the result of occupation it is not possible to determine with absolute accuracy, but it is safe to assume that about one-half of the deaths from accidents among males are the result of industrial employments.

NUMBER OF DEATHS FROM ACCIDENTS COMPARED WITH NUMBER OF DEATHS FROM ALL CAUSES AMONG MALES IN THE REGISTRATION AREA OF THE UNITED STATES, BY AGE GROUPS, FOR THE PERIOD 1900 TO 1906.

[Compiled from special reports of the Bureau of the Census on Mortality Statistics, 1900 to 1906.]

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CAUSES OF ACCIDENTS IN THE UNITED STATES.

The census of 1900 contains a table which may be utilized to arrive at an approximate estimate of the proportion which industrial accidents bear to the mortality from accidents in general. According to this table 28,073 deaths from accidents among males aged 15 years or over were enumerated in 1900, and 6,719 deaths from accidents among females. Since the proportion of the sexes in the population is about the same, even the mere difference in absolute numbers is decidedly suggestive. Arranged by causes, the disparity in the accident liability of the sexes becomes still more apparent, as follows:

NUMBER AND PER CENT OF DEATHS FROM ACCIDENTS AMONG MALES AND FEMALES 15. YEARS OF AGE OR OVER IN THE UNITED STATES, BY CAUSES, 1900. [Compiled from the report of the Bureau of the Census on Vital Statistics for 1900. Persons whose ages are reported as unknown are not included.]

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The foregoing table emphasizes the higher mortality from accidents among males, due to drowning, gunshot wounds, machinery, railroad casualties, suffocation, sunstroke, and wounds generally. The most important difference, however, is in the large number of unclassified accidents, which include, in all probability, the majority of deaths more or less the immediate result of industrial employment.

SCOPE OF THE PRESENT DISCUSSION.

For the present purpose industrial accidents have been classified broadly according to industry into five groups: (1) Factories and workshops; (2) electrical industries; (3) mines and quarries; (4) transportation by rail; (5) transportation by water, including the fisheries. For each of these groups a few typical employments have been selected to emphasize the problem of accident risk to life and health in particular industries. No extended discussion of the causes of accidents, the degree of injury, or the methods of prevention is possible at the present time. The sources of statistical information are chiefly the statistical reports of the Bureau of Factory Inspection of the State of New York, the accident mortality statistics of the United States census of 1900, the occupation mortality statistics of the State of Rhode Island, the reports of mine inspectors, the reports of

the Interstate Commerce Commission, the industrial mortality experience of the Prudential Insurance Company of America, (") and, finally, the reports of British inspectors of factories and workshops, and of the registrar-general of England and Wales on occupation mortality. In the following discussion of accident frequency in specified industries the general facts of accident occurrence, chiefly from a statistical point of view, are considered. The industries selected are all typical and the figures given emphasize the accident problem in particular trades, so far as the very imperfect available information permits.

ACCIDENTS IN FACTORIES AND WORKSHOPS.

ACCIDENTS IN THE METAL TRADES.

In general manufacturing and mechanical industries, probably the most exposed class are men employed in the metal trades, chiefly in the conversion of iron into steel and of steel into the numerous structural shapes, plates, rods, wire, etc. According to the New York State statistics for the five years ending with 1905, there occurred in this industry in that State 8,456 accidents, of which 135, or 1.6 per cent, were fatal. The fatality ratio varied considerably in the different branches of the industry, having been 4 per cent in smelting and refining, 4.1 per cent in rolling mills, 1.1 per cent in the manufacture of engines and boilers, and 1.5 per cent in other metal industries. In metal smelting and refining 88.9 per cent of the accidents caused temporary disablement, while 6.6 per cent caused permanent disablement. Burns in this branch of the industry caused 24.2 per cent of the accidents from all causes. In rolling mills 85.6 per cent of the accidents caused temporary disablement and 9.8 per cent caused permanent disablement. Cuts and similar injuries in this branch of the industry caused 24.1 per cent of the accidents from all causes. In the manufacture of engines and boilers and pumps 87.9 per cent of the accidents caused temporary disablement and 10.9 per cent caused permanent disablement. Bruises and similar injuries in this branch of the industry caused 25.3 per cent of the accidents from all causes. In miscellaneous metal industries 79 per cent of the accidents caused temporary disablement and 19.3 per cent caused permanent disablement. Cuts and similar injuries in these branches of the industry caused 22.8 per cent of the accidents from all causes. The details of accident frequency in the metal trades are set forth in tabular form, as follows, but additional data for certain branches of this industry are given in Tables I to IV of the appendix.

a The industrial occupation mortality data of the Prudential Insurance Company of America have been made public at different times at international expositions, including Paris in 1900, St. Louis in 1964, and Jamestown Tercentennial in 1907, and they have been discussed in an address on industrial accidents read before the American Association of Medical Examiners, Chicago, 1908.

NUMBER AND PER CENT OF ACCIDENTS IN ALL METAL INDUSTRIES IN NEW YORK STATE, BY DEGREE OF INJURY, FOR THE PERIOD 1901 TO 1905. [Compiled from the annual reports of the New York Bureau of Factory Inspection, 1901 to 1905.]

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ACCIDENTS IN IRON AND STEEL MANUFACTURE.

More suggestive and conclusive than the statistics for the State of New York are the annual returns of the Cambria Mutual Benefit Association, of Johnstown, Pa., for the period 1893 to 1906. This society includes within its membership employees in most of the important branches of the iron and steel industry and a small proportion of miners. The death rate from all causes has varied from 5.5 to 19 per 1,000, and the accident rate has varied from 1.4 to 11.7 per 1,000. During 1906 the death rate from all causes was 7.6 per 1,000 and from accidents alone 3.5. During the period 1900 to 1906, in the experience of this association there occurred 306 fatal accidents, of which 26.5 per cent were caused by falling articles, 20.3 per cent by persons being run over by railroad cars, locomotives, etc., 13.7 per cent while walking on railroad tracks outside of the works, 9.8 per cent by miscellaneous accidents inside of the works, 7.5 per cent by falls, 5.2 per cent by gas asphyxiation and explosions, 4.6 per cent by miscellaneous accidents outside of the works, 3.6 per cent by burns and scalds, 2.9 per cent by crane accidents, and 1.3 per cent by heat exhaustion. In addition, 3.3 per cent of the accidental deaths so classified were from homicides and 1.3 per cent from suicides. It is made evident by this analysis of the experience of a representative association of iron and steel workers (including some miners) that employees in the iron and steel industry have a true occupation accident risk as the direct result of their employment, which is probably somewhat less than one-half of the recorded accident rate, or about 1.5 per 1,000.

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